Archives

Friday, May 12, 1911: Just about the same things which I did yesterday. Ruth went up to Turbotville this evening to attend the commencement. I’ll surely have some peace tonight because she won’t be here to disturb it.

Recent photo of Turbotville Community Hall. The commencement probably was held here.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

I’m surprised that the school year apparently was more than a month longer in the neighboring town of Turbotville than it was in McEwensville.

McEwensville High School had held it’s commencement on April 6. That day was also the last school day. In general the school year was very short a hundred years ago since children were needed at home during the spring planting season—but it sure seems like the school year was exceptionally short in McEwensville. I wonder what the community thought about this—Did they worry that their children might be learning less than students in neighboring communities? Or were they glad school ended early so their kids could help with the farm chores?

Hello

I look forward to sharing my grandmother's diary with relatives and friends. Helena Muffly (Swartz) kept a diary from 1911-1914. She was 15 years old when she began this diary. I plan to post these entries one day at a time—exactly 100 years after she wrote them. I hope you enjoy this glimpse back to a slower paced time.

The header is a picture of the farm where my grandmother lived when she wrote this diary. It is located in Northumberland County in central Pennsyvlania about a mile outside of McEwenvsille. My father said that the buildings look similar to what they looked like when he was a child.